Volkswagen Group of America and Eaton Unveil New Combined Charging System Quick Charger

BELMONT, CA, Jan 10, 2013 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) --
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. and Eaton today celebrated the
debut of one of the country's first single-port Combined Charging
System (CCS) electric vehicle chargers at the Electronics Research
Laboratory (ERL) in Belmont, Calif. Capable of recharging most
electric vehicles with compatible systems in as little as 30 minutes,
the installation of the new charger is the beginning of the new
CCS-compliant single-port fast charging infrastructure development in
the United States and Europe.

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The CCS charge point meets the approved Society of Automotive
Engineers (SAE) standard for plug-in electric vehicles. The system
utilizes a single-port and integrates one-phase AC charging, fast
three-phase AC charging, DC charging at home and ultra-fast DC
charging at public stations. The efficient design optimizes customer
ease-of-use with a single standard that will allow EV customers to
not only charge at most existing stations, but also improve customer
convenience by offering a single source for various charging levels.

"The Volkswagen Group is fully committed to supporting the worldwide
introduction of the Combined Charging System standard," said Dr.

Rudolpf Krebs, Chief Officer for Electric Traction, Volkswagen Group.

"To fuel the market success of electric vehicles, a standardized
infrastructure is urgently needed to provide customers with entry
into this new drive technology."
"In comparison to other charging standards, CCS offers advantages
because it requires only one cut out in the vehicle body, thus
reducing costs and making it easier for customers to handle
charging," said Dr. Volkmar Tanneberger, Head of
Electrics/Electronics Development, Volkswagen AG. "Moreover, CCS
enables optimal data communication and can be quickly adapted to
potential smart grid concepts in the future. With the ability to
handle up to 86 kW, CCS is the most powerful charging system
available."
"Eaton's collaboration with Volkswagen Group on the development and
validation of the Combined Charging System demonstrates our
commitment to the introduction of this new standard," said John
Wirtz, business unit manager, Electric Transportation Infrastructure,
Eaton. "Our development and implementation of the CCS Quick Charger
supports our on-going efforts to move this market forward."
Eaton DC Quick Charger
The state-of-the-art DC Quick Charger
features the CCS charge connector and communicates with the electric
vehicle's battery management system to provide direct current flow to
charge the battery. This direct communication between charger and
battery enables an 80 percent recharge to the electric vehicle
battery in as few as 30 minutes.

The 50 kW charger housing consists of five individual 10 kW power
drawers providing the flexibility to offer a 20 kW, 30 kW, 40 kW or
50 kW configuration. In the event the output is reduced due to the
failure of one power drawer, the DCQC has N-1 capability, which
allows the charger to remain operational.

Combined Charging System standard
First introduced in March 2012 at
EVS26, the system has been chosen by the Society of International
Engineers as the single-port fast charging method as its standard for
fast charging. SAE selected the system as the fast-charging
methodology for a standard that incrementally extends existing Type
1-based AC-charging while the European manufacturing association
(ACEA) has endorsed the harmonization of the system for all electric
vehicle types in Europe.

The CCS standard is a global open standard and can be used by all
vehicle and charging station manufacturers. To date, eight automotive
manufacturers from the United States and Europe have adopted the CCS
standard. Commercial CCS charging stations will be available in the
coming months with the first vehicles equipped with the new system
expected to launch in Europe later this year and the United States in
2014.

The announcement of one of the first CCS chargers in the United
States supports Volkswagen Group's ongoing development of electric
vehicles for markets around the world. With a production EV slated
for 2014 in the United States, the team at the ERL led an evaluation
of more than 20 prototype e-Golf battery electric vehicles throughout
2012 in three select markets -- San Francisco, Detroit, and
Washington, D.C. The pilot scheme has equipped Volkswagen Group
engineers with valuable data that will be used in the final
development of future EV technology applications. In addition to the
new charger, today the first CCS-equipped e-Golf in North America was
introduced with plans to update the remainder of the prototype test
fleet in 2013.

About Volkswagen Group Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL)
Volkswagen Group's Electronics Research Laboratory (ERL) located in
Belmont, California represents the Group's applied research and
development initiatives in North America. With a focus on advanced
technology, the ERL's mission is to develop innovations for future
generations of vehicles with the goal of transferring technologies
from many industries into the automotive domain. The ERL was
established in August 1998 with three employees and today has grown
to become the Volkswagen Group's largest research facility outside of
Germany employing approximately 100 engineers, social scientists,
researchers, and product designers.

About Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Volkswagen Group of
America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, one of
the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker
in Europe. It operates a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga,
Tennessee and houses the U.S. operations of a worldwide family of
distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti,
Lamborghini and Volkswagen, as well as its finance subsidiary VW
Credit, Inc. Founded in 1955, the company's headquarters are in
Herndon, Virginia, Volkswagen Group of America brings to the U.S.

vehicles that marry the science of engineering and the art of
styling, with the goal of offering attractive, safe, and
environmentally sound automobiles that are competitive and set world
standards in their respective classes. The company has approximately
5,900 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through a
950-strong dealer network.

About Eaton
Eaton is a diversified power management company
providing energy-efficient solutions that help our customers
effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The
company is a global technology leader in electrical products, systems
and services for power quality, distribution and control, power
transmission, lighting and wiring products; hydraulics components,
systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace
fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military
use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for
performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton acquired Cooper
Industries plc in 2012. Eaton has approximately 100,000 employees and
sells products to customers in more than 150 countries. For more
information, visit www.eaton.com.